M
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series; the character is the Head of Secret Intelligence Service—also known as MI6. Fleming based the character M on a number of people he knew who commanded sections of British intelligence. Primary amongst these was Rear Admiral John Godfrey, who was Fleming's superior at the Naval Intelligence Division. M has appeared in the novels by Fleming and seven continuation authors, as well as appearing in twenty-three films, with a twenty-fourth due for release on 26 October 2012. In the Eon Productions series of films, M has been portrayed by three actors: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and Judi Dench, who is the current incumbent; in the two independent productions, M has been played by John Huston and Edward Fox. Background Fleming based much of M's character on Rear Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence of the Royal Navy, and Fleming's superior during World War II. After Fleming's death, Godfrey complained "He turned me into that unsavoury character, M." Other possible inspirations include Lieutenant Colonel Sir Claude Dansey, deputy head of MI6 and head of the wartime Z network, who achieved different interpretations of his character from those who knew him: Malcolm Muggeridge thought him "the only professional in MI6", whilst Hugh Trevor-Roper considered Dansey to be "an utter shit, corrupt, incompetent, but with a certain low cunning". A further inspiration for M was Maxwell Knight, head of MI5, who signed his memos as "M" and whom Fleming knew well. The tradition of the head of MI6 signing their name with a single letter came from Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who would sign his initial "C" with green ink. Another possibility for the model of M was William Melville, an Irishman who became head of the Secret Service Bureau, the forerunner to both MI5 and MI6: Melville was referred to within government circles as M. Melville recruited Sidney Reilly into government service and foiled an assassination plot against Queen Victoria on her 1887 Golden Jubilee. Fleming's biographer John Pearson also hypothesised that Fleming's characterisation of M reflects memories of his mother: Novels Fleming's third Bond novel, Moonraker, establishes M's initials as "M**** M*******" and his first name is subsequently revealed to be Miles. In the final novel of the series, The Man with the Golden Gun, M's full identity is revealed as Admiral Sir Miles Messervy KCMG; Messervy had been appointed to head of MI6 after his predecessor had been assassinated at his desk. A naval theme runs throughout Fleming's description of M and his surroundings, and his character was described by journalist and Bond scholar Ben Macintyre as "every inch the naval martinet". Macintyre also notes that in his study of Fleming's work, Kingsley Amis outlined that way Fleming had described M's voice, being: angry (three times); brutal, cold (seven times); curt, dry (five times); gruff (seven times); stern, testy (five times). Over the course of twelve novels and two collections of short stories, Fleming provided a number of details relating to M's background and character. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service it is revealed that M's pay as head of the Secret Service is £6,500 a year, (£101,396 in 2012 pounds) £1,500 of which comes from retired naval pay. Although his pay is good for the 1950s and 1960s, it is never explained how M received or can afford his membership at Blades, an upscale private club for gentlemen he frequents in London to gamble and dine. Blades has a restricted membership of only 200 gentlemen and all must be able to show £100,000 (£1,559,944 in 2012 pounds) in cash or gilt-edged securities. Kingsley Amis noted in his study, The James Bond Dossier, that on M's salary his membership of the club would have been puzzling. As a personal favour to M, the staff at Blades keeps a supply of cheap red wine from Algeria on hand but does not include it on the wine list. M refers to it as "Infuriator" and tends only drinks it in moderate quantities unless he is in a very bad mood. Academic Paul Stock argues that M's office is a metonym for England and a stable point from which Bond departs on a mission, whilst he sees M as being an iconic representative of England and Englishness. In the first post-Fleming book, Colonel Sun, M is kidnapped from Quarterdeck, his home, and Bond goes to great lengths to rescue him. The later continuation books, written by John Gardner, retain Sir Miles Messervy as M, who protects Bond from the new, less aggressive climate in the Secret Service, saying that at some point Britain will need "a blunt instrument". In Gardner's final novel, COLD, M is kidnapped and rescued by Bond and finishes the book by retiring from MI6. Continuation Bond author Raymond Benson's 1998 novel The Facts of Death continued Messervy's retirement, where he still resides in Quarterdeck. The book also introduces a new M, Barbara Mawdsley. Films Bernard Lee: 1962–1979 M was played by Bernard Lee from the first Bond movie, Dr. No, until Moonraker (1979). In Dr. No, M refers to his record in reducing the number of operative casualties since taking the job, implying someone else held the job recently before him. The film also saw M refer to himself as head of MI7; Lee had originally said MI6, but was overdubbed with the name MI7 prior to the film's release. Earlier in the film, the department had been referred to as MI6 by a radio operator. As in the novels, it is hinted that M's real name is Vice Admiral Sir Miles Messervy. While his name was hinted at throughout the novel series and finally revealed in The Man with the Golden Gun, in the movie series only his first name, Miles, was revealed (in The Spy Who Loved Me). Like his novel counterpart, he also has the rank of Vice Admiral and it is generally assumed that the M of the films and of Fleming's books are one and the same person. A number of Bond scholars have noted the Lee's interpretation of the character was in line with the original literary representation; Cork and Stutz observed that Lee was "very close to Fleming's version of the character", whilst Rubin commented on the serious, efficient, no-nonsense authority figure. Smith and Lavington, meanwhile, remarked that Lee was "the very incarnation of Fleming's crusty admiral." Lee died of cancer in January 1981, four months into the filming of For Your Eyes Only and before any of his scenes could be filmed. Out of respect, no new actor was hired to assume the role and, instead, the script was re-written so that the character is said to be on leave, with his lines given to either his Chief of Staff Bill Tanner or the Minister of Defence, Sir Fredrick Gray. Later films referred to Lee's tenure as head of the service, with a painting of him as M in MI6's Scottish headquarters during the 1999 instalment The World Is Not Enough. Robert Brown: 1983–1989 After Lee's death in 1981, the producers decided to hire actor Robert Brown to continue the role in the Bond films. Brown picks up the role in Octopussy however, it is never explicitly stated onscreen whether Robert Brown's character is intended to be the same person played by Bernard Lee, or if he was intended to be Admiral Hargreaves, the role played by Brown in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me, though the later Bond books retain Messervy. One thing to note is that in the pre-title credits to The Living Daylights, M's insignia suggests he is a Rear Admiral, which would mean if he was Hargreaves then he was demoted since Hargreaves' insignia in The Spy Who Loved Me suggests he is a Vice Admiral. As played by Brown, M lacks a sense of humor and has absolutely no tolerance whatsoever for Bond's antics. Brown's M came off tougher than any of his predecessors, wasting no time to revoke Bond's licence to kill in the film Licence to Kill''when Bond went off on a vendetta. Despite this formality, also Brown's M has a strong liking for 007; after Bond rushes off after the revoke of his 00-Licence, M wishes him "good luck". Judi Dench: 1995–2012 After the long period between ''Licence to Kill and GoldenEye, the producers brought in Dame Judi Dench to take over as the new M. The character may have been based on Stella Rimmington, the head of the real MI5. Dench clearly plays a new person appointed to the position of M (putting to rest a long time debate over the nature of the character.) Her real name has yet to be revealed in the films, but recent Bond novelist Raymond Benson gives her the name Barbara Mawdsley. In GoldenEye, she is clearly established as different from her predecessors; she is cold, blunt, and unabashedly dislikes Bond, whom she calls a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War." Some MI6 agents have referred to her as "the evil queen of numbers". In her later films she begins to care about him, especially after he saves her life in The World Is Not Enough. Whatever affection she may have for 007 never interferes with her unerring professional detachment, however; in Die Another Day, she orders her subordinates to disavow Bond after he is taken prisoner in North Korea, and abandons him to be tortured for 14 months, although she accepts Bond's return to action when required. Although it would appear that Dench's M and Bond don't get along too well, M still has the same high professional respect for Bond that her predecessors had; when faced with a bomb threat, M noted that Bond would succeed in disarming the bomb if there was even the slightest chance of doing so, reflecting that he was the best the agency had, even if she would never tell him it directly. Dench also stars as M in the first three Daniel Craig movies, starting with the 2006 film Casino Royale. In 2012's Skyfall, M is at the center of the plot, revolving around former MI6 agent turned terrorist Raoul Silva trying to get revenge by killing his former boss. M is injured by Silva and his men while they attack Skyfall Lodge, and bleeds to death in Bond's arms at the estate's chapel. Ralph Fiennes: 2012-Present After his predecessor death in the field he was appointed as the new M. Non-Eon films John Huston: 1967 The 1967 satire Casino Royale featured not one but two Ms. The first is played by John Huston, who also co-directed. In this film, M's real name is McTarry and he is accidentally killed when, in order to get Bond out of retirement, he orders the military to fire mortars at Bond's mansion when the retired spy refuses to return to duty. The first quarter of the film features Bond's subsequent visit to McTarry Castle in Scotland, on a quest to return the only piece of M's remains recovered after the attack—his bright red toupee. Subsequently, Bond (David Niven) becomes the new M and proceeds to order that all MI6 agents, male and female, be renamed "James Bond 007" in order to confuse the enemy... and the audience. Edward Fox: 1983 In 1983's Never Say Never Again Edward Fox played M as a bureaucrat, contemptuous of Bond — far removed from the relationship shared between Bernard Lee's M and Sean Connery's Bond; academic Jeremy Black notes that the contempt felt for the 00 section by Fox's M was reciprocated by Connery's Bond. Fox's M is also younger than any of the previous incarnations. Academic James Chapman notes that whilst M considers Bond to be an out-dated relic, the Foreign Secretary orders the 00 section to be re-activated. See also * List of James Bond allies References *''The Man Who Was M'', Anthony Masters, Basil Blackwell ISBN 0-631-13392-5 External links *The 'Bond Informant' on M Category:00 Agents Category:James Bond characters